The mid to late 1980s were an unusual time in baseball with the arrival of two-sport stars Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders. I’ve read a few things recently stating that Brian Jordan should be considered the best two-sport star of that era, and while I’ll be the first to say that Brian Jordan’s baseball career – 1,456 games, 184 home runs, 821 RBI, career batting average of .282 and almost 33 WAR – is better than Bo or Deion, the fact remains that Jordan accumulated his baseball numbers AFTER he gave up football. Bo and Prime were playing both sports, and at a high level, at the same time. Huge difference. How good could Bo have been had he not moonlighted for the Raiders?
How good could he have been in the NFL had he not played for the Royals? Bo was a mind-boggling athlete, the best I’ve ever seen in my life. He made plays on the football field that very few have had the ability to make. Like any born-and-bred longtime Kansas City Chiefs fan, I’ve always despised the Raiders. Is that Ben Davidson across the street on fire? Let him burn.
I have fully enjoyed the Raiders descent into oblivion. Just lose baby. Commitment to excrement. Set up a Go Fund Me so Mark Davis can get a decent haircut. You get the idea.
That said, when Bo was playing for the Raiders…I would watch. He was that spectacular. I was saddened when his hip injury derailed both of his careers.
In the summer of 1988, I spent money I didn’t have on two tickets to see the Royals play the Twins with the sole purpose of seeing Bo play. The tickets were the last two seats in the lower curve of the upper deck above left field. We took our seats and almost immediately an usher appeared asking to see our tickets because “no one sits out here”. He was shocked to see that yes, my tickets were for the last two seats in the corner, on the rail. I paid for them and we ain’t moving.
Bo didn’t disappoint. When he trotted out to take his position in left, I was shocked at how much bigger he was than any of the other players. It looked like Al Zych had taken the largest uniform he could find and poured liquid muscle into it.
In the bottom of the fourth, with the Royals trailing 1-0, George led off with a single. Pat Tabler singled. Danny Tartabull singled. With one out, Bo stepped to the plate and slammed a Frank Viola offering about 430 feet, straightaway center field. The ball landed at the base of the scoreboard. The Royals now lead 4-1 in a game they won, 4-3. At the time, Frank Viola was one of the best pitchers in baseball. In 1988, he went 24-7 with a 2.64 ERA on his way to winning the American League Cy Young award. He was a very good pitcher. This was why I drove 700 miles, flat broke. I wanted to see Bo in his prime. I haven’t felt that way about another athlete since.
Here are six of the best plays of Bo’s baseball career. When starting this list, I rattled a handful of top plays off the top of my head. I understand that each of us my view these in a different order. I’m ranking them in what I perceive to be “degree of difficulty”.
Honorable Mention
- Beating out a ground ball to the second baseman for his first career hit.
- Leading off the 1989 All-Star game with a home run.
- Breaks bat over his head. Breaks bat over his thigh. Don’t try this at home. Seriously. I tried the thigh thing once and couldn’t walk for almost two weeks without a limp.
- Make a catch in left field then throws a laser to first base for a double play.
- Shoestring catch against the Orioles at the K.
#6 – Bo hits inside the park home run
Royals Stadium, May 31, 1990
Scene: Over 37,000 came out this evening to watch the first-place Athletics. In the bottom of the 6th, with the Royals trailing 5 to nothing, Oakland pitcher Bob Welch seems to have things under control. Kevin Seitzer, Steve Jeltz and Gerald Perry each hit singles to load the bases. George hits a ground ball to the shortstop who turns a double play, allowing Seitzer to score. Bo steps in with two outs and lofts a fly ball to the extreme corner of right field.
Jose Canseco manning right field for the A’s, drifts over to take a look. Canseco has never been known as a great fielder and is exposed on this play. The ball caroms off the 310 mark of the wall and bounces away from Canseco. Jeltz scores easily while Bo steams around the bases. By the time Willie Randolph gets the relay, Bo is churning towards home. He does a slick slide into home, easily beating the throw. Bo tops it off by making one of his famous leaps to his feet without using his arms.
#5 – Bo blasts three home runs at Yankee Stadium
July 17, 1990
Scene: Bo’s home away from home, Yankee Stadium. Top of first, George Brett on first, Bo slams a pitch from Andy Hawkins over the centerfield fence (and two-sport rival Dieon Sanders).
In the bottom of the hird, Bo comes to the plate once again with Brett on first. He absolutely crushes this pitch from Hawkins, deep into the right-center stands. Yankee rightfielder Jesse Barfield has seen enough home runs in his life to know there’s no catching this one, which travels an estimated 450+ feet, ricocheting off a Budweiser sign above the stands.
Bo comes up in the bottom of the fifth with Kevin Seitzer and Brett aboard and once again victimizes Hawkins. This shot, to right field only carries about 320 but that’s more than enough to clear the short distance in right field. Yankee fans, who know good baseball when they see it, give Jackson a standing ovation. That’s about 1,200 feet of home run in case you’re wondering.
In the bottom of the sixth, Sanders hits a sinking liner to center. Bo dives for the catch and misses it. The ball rolls to the wall, and with Sander’s speed, it’s an easy inside-the-park home run. Unfortunately, Bo injured his shoulder on the play and had to leave the game, depriving fans of the chance to see a four-home run game.
#4 – Bo runs up the wall in Baltimore – Memorial Stadium
July 11, 1990
Scene: Bottom of 3rd inning, Royals leading the Orioles by the score of 5 to 2. Baltimore’s Joe Orsulak leads off the inning and hits a drive to left-center off the Royals Pete Filson. Bo, playing centerfield, sprints toward the ball which is slicing away from him. He makes the backhand catch while running full speed then proceeds to do his best Spider-Man imitation by scaling the wall. Right foot, left foot, right foot, then the jump off. At his peak, he was about a foot from the top of the wall. Of course, you understand that a normal human cannot do this. We don’t possess the speed or strength to pull this off.
Bo throws the ball back to the infield like nothing special has happened. Royals’ leftfielder, Willie Wilson, takes a few extra moments to stare at the wall to process what he has just seen. The 20,000 fans in attendance give Bo a standing ovation.
#3 – Bo hoses down Mike Gallego from right field
August 31, 1993
Scene: Okay, so this was after Bo came back from his football injury, and yes, he was playing for the White Sox. Doesn’t matter. It still qualifies as one of his greatest plays, and one of the best outfield throws I’ve ever seen. Bottom of the eighth, Yankee Stadium. Mike Gallego has just struck a double off Wilson Alvarez. The next batter, Jim Leyritz, who is one of baseball’s nice guys, lifts a flyball deep to left. It’s deep enough that Gallego thinks he can tag up and take third.
Bo settles under the ball, then after the catch takes a step and unleashes a rifle shot of a throw to Robin Ventura at third. Ventura catches the ball on the fly and applies the tag to Gallegos. Bo exults a little, shaking his finger and saying something along the lines of “Don’t you ever run on Bo.” It’s clear by now that Bo Jackson owns the Yankees.
#2 – Bo climbs wall to rob Jack Clark of a home run against the Yankees
July 10, 1988
Scene: Two outs, bottom of the seventh, Royals leading the Yankees 4-to-3 at Yankee Stadium. Jack Clark, who has had a pretty good day so far with two singles and an RBI, hits a blast off the Royals Rick Anderson that looks destined to clear the wall and tie the game. Bo goes to the wall, times his leap perfectly, and what a leap it was. I’m guessing, but I’d say his glove were eleven feet up. Bo makes the catch, much to the consternation and shock of the nearby Yankee fans.
This was one of the few times I’ve seen Bo show any emotion, first holding his glove and ball aloft with a shout of exclamation, then a pump of the right arm. Bo liked giving the business to the Yankees. The Royals win this game by a score of 5-to-3.
#1 – Bo throws out Harold Reynolds at home plate – Seattle Kingdome
June 5, 1989
Scene: Reynolds on first base, bottom of the tenth inning. Scott Bradley rips a double off Steve Farr into the left field corner. With Reynolds’ speed (he was running on the pitch to boot) it looks like he’ll easily score the game winner. Reynolds approaches third just as Bo gets to the ball. Jackson unleashes a monster throw to catcher Bob Boone who applies the sweep tag to the sliding Reynolds. Out! Reynolds slams his helmet into the ground in disgust and shock.
The Mariners third base coach and manager come out and argue the call. Why? It’s clear that Reynolds was out. Their argument was that there was no umpire near home plate to make the call, which is true. The umpires are supposed to rotate on a play like that with the 3rd base ump going into left field, the home plate ump moving to third base and the first base umpire shifting to home. The first two umpires did their job. The first base ump didn’t. He was nowhere in sight. It didn’t matter.
Boone’s tag caught Reynolds on the left foot before he got to the plate on what was a once-in-a-lifetime throw. After the throw, Bo calmly walked around the outfield and adjusted the sizable contents of his cup. The Royals then score two in the 13th to steal the win.